VOX Box: Heretic Saga 19
Characters * Lee Travis * Greg Saunders * Mr. Bones Location * National City, VA * November 9th 2016, 1529 Local Time VOX Archive * opens, footsteps: 2 instances * Mr. Bones: Thanks, Agent Chase. That'll be all. * Cameron Chase: footsteps * Mr. Bones: If you don't mind, will you close the door? Thanks, Cameron. * Cameron Chase: closes * Mr. Bones: Come on in, you two. * Greg Saunders: After you, Stuff. * Lee Travis: Ah, gee, thanks, Wing... chair sliding on carpet, clatter, sigh How are you doing today, sir? * Mr. Bones: How do I look? * Lee Travis: Uh... * Greg Saunders: chuckle Be easy on the kid, Bones... clatter I'm the one you're mad at. * Mr. Bones: Who says I'm mad? * Greg Saunders: Uh... Well, chuckle honestly? It's difficult to tell. You have one hell of a poker face. * Mr. Bones: sigh Just give me your report. * Greg Saunders: Well, Heretic hasn't shown up in about two weeks. * Mr. Bones: Hasn't shown up or you haven't been there when he did? * Lee Travis: She, actually... * Greg Saunders: Hey. * Mr. Bones: What do you mean, Agent Travis? * Lee Travis: Sir, Heretic is a she. * Greg Saunders: That's not confirmed. * Lee Travis: The hell it ain't. Oracle ran the voice analytics. Heretic is- * Greg Saunders: Heretic is a mystery. We don't know if that audio device was tampered with. * Lee Travis: What? Are you being serious? * Greg Saunders: Lee, zip it. * Mr. Bones: No... She's fine. Go on, Agent Travis. * Greg Saunders: Sir, if you'd give me a moment in private to speak to my partner- * Mr. Bones: You say another word, Saunders, before she's finished speaking and I'll use my stapler creatively. * Greg Saunders: Uh... understood, sir... sigh * Mr. Bones: Go on, Travis... You were saying? * Lee Travis: We have reason to suspect that Heretic is a missing DEO asset and former member of the Soldiers. * Mr. Bones: Shelly Gaynor... Is this true, Saunders? * Greg Saunders: It's possible, sir. We're still investigating it. * Mr. Bones: How did this happened? * Greg Saunders: We don't know, sir. * Mr. Bones: Give me your best guess. * Greg Saunders: When we were in the Void rescuing Pemberton, Gaynor got swallowed up by a dimensional rift. I guess it's possible that the League of Assassins were on the other end of that rift. It's rather documented that the League's eccentric Black Glove faction does a lot of occult research, particularly the mysterious man known as El Penitente. sigh He also does a lot of work on brainwashing and mind control. If Shelly were to have fallen into their hands, it's likely they'd want to use her physical conditioning and turn her into a living weapon... while also using her knowledge of our operations against us. * Mr. Bones: I see... Not unlike they did with the Todd boy? * Greg Saunders: Yes, sir... * Lee Travis: Todd boy? * Mr. Bones: How did we come to this conclusion? * Greg Saunders: There was an audio recording of Heretic's voice out of the helmet. Ystina recognized the voice. * Mr. Bones: I see. How do we think Shelly was brainwashed? * Lee Travis: The armor. The Suit of Sorrows itself. While there was probably some other conditioning to give Shelly a reason to follow the League's orders, the Suit of Sorrows makes it hard for its wearer to change course. It clouds their mind with so much delusions of power and cravings for causing suffering that it's quite difficult to focus on anything other than whatever it is they set out to do. * Mr. Bones: Where is Ystina? She knows more about this Suit than anyone else on my payroll. * Greg Saunders: That might be a bit difficult to arrange a meeting right now. Ystina's looking for Shelly. * Mr. Bones: Where is she looking? * Greg Saunders: To be honest? Not a clue, sir. She left a day or two after Heretic went quiet. * Mr. Bones: She hasn't touched bases with you? * Greg Saunders: No, sir. * Mr. Bones: How are you certain she's still on the case and not in a grave? * Greg Saunders: Because this is Ystina, sir. I don't think the Heretic could kill the Shining Knight. Doesn't fit the story. * Mr. Bones: The story? * Greg Saunders: There are folk who think we live in a story, sir. I'm just... borrowing from their philosophy. * Mr. Bones: scoff Greg, do I need to give you a mental health vacation? * Greg Saunders: I would not object to it if you did, sir. * Mr. Bones: groan Well, that ain't happening. I'm already thin as is for all the expletive on my plate. * Lee Travis: The elections shaking things up for you, sir? * Mr. Bones: I honestly don't know yet. The new president elect hasn't clued me in on his intentions for me. * Lee Travis: You think you're going to be replaced? * Mr. Bones: chuckle No. Lex Luthor is a lot of things, but no one ever called him stupid. * Greg Saunders: Yeah, come to think of it, I've heard quite a few colorful things said 'bout him from more than a few folk. None of them insulted his intelligence. Yeah, you're probably safe where you're at, Bones. * Mr. Bones: Thanks for your assurances. Both of you... Now, tell me the rest. * Greg Saunders: The... The rest? * Lee Travis: I think he means me. * Greg Saunders: Lee... * Lee Travis: It's okay, Wing... I gave him the bullet points over the phone a while go. * Greg Saunders: You did what? Without consulting me? Stuff... sigh * Mr. Bones: I'm feeling like you've made a habit of concealing things from me before, Agent Saunders. * Greg Saunders: Sir, with all due respect... This is not a DEO matter. This is something personal. * Mr. Bones: From what Lee told me it sounds very "extranormal" to me and thus something the Department of Extranormal Operations might want to look into. See what I'm getting at, Saunders? * Greg Saunders: sigh She's my partner. * Mr. Bones: She's my agent. * Lee Travis: Uh, guys... Could we not fight over me? Look, Wing... The thing is, I told him because I figured he may know something about this. He might've encountered something like this before. * Greg Saunders: Oh, he definitely knows what the expletive is going on, but sure as hell ain't gonna tell us! He's not in the business of telling his secrets, Lee... At least, not for free. It always comes at a cost with him. * Lee Travis: Well, maybe it's worth the price this time, Greg. * Greg Saunders: sigh Okay, well, was it? Hmm? * Mr. Bones: How about you tell me, Saunders? drawer opens, papers rustling, manila folder sliding on desk, desk drawer closes There it is. I had Bobo send this over. It's everything his team was able to dig up. * Greg Saunders: folder sliding on desk, pages turning, sigh Spirits of Vengeance? What's this? * Mr. Bones: That's what your partner has become, Greg. clatter Recognize this? * Greg Saunders: That's a bullet * Lee Travis: That's the bullet I had Jackie pull from my chest last week... I sent it to Bones. * Greg Saunders: You did what? * Mr. Bones: It's a bit deformed, as bullets tend to do that when they strike their target, but... at the back of the folder, you'll see I had the lab scan the bullet and recreate the pattern. Look familiar? * Greg Saunders: rustling, pause, sigh You got to be kidding me... * Lee Travis: What's significant about- manila folder sliding on desk, gasp I've seen that symbol before. Trivia and Notes * Part of the Heretic Saga Storyline. * Story continues from VOX Box: Heretic Saga 18. * Story continues in VOX Box: Heretic Saga 20. * The symbol on the bullet is a sign of Barbatos. Links and References * VOX Box: Heretic Saga 19 Category:VOX Box Category:Lee Travis/Appearances Category:Greg Saunders/Appearances Category:Mr. Bones/Appearances Category:Seven Soldiers of Victory/Appearances Category:DEO/Appearances Category:National City/Appearances Category:Heretic Saga Storyline